(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a notch pressing device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a notch pressing device that may form a notch in a crash box for a vehicle.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Generally, a bumper system is a part of a vehicle designed to help it withstand impact of a collision, and bumpers are disposed the front and rear of the vehicle to minimize deformation of the vehicle in a collision.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional bumper system for a vehicle.
Referring to FIG. 1, the bumper system (a conventional front bumper system) includes a bumper beam 101 disposed along vehicle width direction at the front of a vehicle, an energy absorber 103 disposed in front of the bumper beam 101 for absorbing impact, a bumper cover 105 covering the bumper beam 101 and the energy absorber 103, and a crash box (CB, also called a stay) connecting the bumper beam 101 and a front side member 107.
The crash box CB is usually assembled to the front side member 107 interposing a plate 111 therebetween, and is a hollow closed sectional square tube.
When impact energy is transmitted in a collision, the energy absorber 103 is compressed to absorb part of the impact energy, and other impact energy is absorbed by deforming the bumper beam 101 and the crash box CB.
As shown in FIG. 2, recently a notch N has been formed in the crash box CB such that the crash box CB can be stably collapsed along the length direction thereof when impact energy is transmitted.
However, for forming the notch N in the crash box CB, a notch-forming process has to be added in a press line or forging has to be implemented by a worker, and thus the process becomes inefficient.
That is, if the crash box CB is formed by 2 steel panel sheets, the notch N is formed in each panel by pressing and then the panels are assembled to form the crash box CB by welding.
However, if the crash box CB is formed by a material such as aluminum, which is formed as a closed sectional tube by extrusion molding, it is difficult to form the notch N by pressing, so hydroforming is applied to form the notch N. But in the hydroforming, manufacturing a metallic pattern is very costly, and post processing such as washing and cutting processes have to be added.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.